A Day in the City
by SoraRoxasXV
Summary: Clide and Kurai go into the Creature inhabited City. Will they survive?


Rise of the Magi (Pyromancers) – A Day in the City

Since they already have their homework turned in, Clide Rosenhall and Kurai Fenikkusu Hanran decided to take a break(with permission from their professor, Soul)and go into the City. And plus, Clide dared Kurai to go into the City anyway, so Kurai had to accept.

The Institute was located just south of the City anyway, so it wouldn't take them long to get there. The City was crawling with monsters, as a result of the Wave, that were called "Creatures". Only a few people had survived, and are living in the City. They try to avoid the Creatures at any costs, but some are not as lucky as others.

First, they to change out of their uniforms. Well, they just didn't want to wear them out is all. Kurai peeked his head in the Sonic Room dorm. He saw no one in there. The Sonic Room was where he slept. His roommate was an Aeromancer, but it didn't appear he wasn't in the room at the moment. _He's probably in class or something_, Kurai thought.

Kurai put on his usual black, skinny jeans and a gray tank top. He decided he didn't want to wear his usual sweatshirt, because it was too hot. He went into the side bathroom and decided to fix his long, blonde hair. His bangs were over his eyes, hiding them from the world. It didn't matter to him, he could still see clearly. But others could only see shadows under his bangs. He then dug out his black, converse shoes under his bed and put them on. He dug through his papers—mainly for his homework—and dug out his iron, black wand.

He walked out into the main hallway and saw the other doors to the other dormitories. The main hallway was a big, circular shaped room that was bright white with marble; also it had a high, glass ceiling. Sometimes, when the sun shone in, it looked like it sparkled. The room head four doors, leading to four dorms. They were the Sonic Room, Echo Room, Stereo Room, and the Mono Room. The doors were painted a light shade of gray with different symbols on each one. If you couldn't figure which one was which, there was a sign above each door indicating which dorm.

Kurai just realized that each dorm represented the levels of sound. Kurai just laughed and looked around. He thought the Institute was beautiful.

"Are you just going to stand around all day, staring like an idiot?" Kurai turned and saw Clide. Clide just sighed and shook his head. "No! I was waiting out here for you." Kurai said.

Kurai saw that Clide was in his usual gear. Blue, cut short sleeves, shirt, with a darker tint of blue stripe across the chest. Deeper blue pants, with the belt that held purple stars. He noticed Clide had the long red scarf around his neck. And he also noticed that Clide combed his red hair, but it was still spiky and edgy to Kurai.

Then Kurai saw Clide carrying his staff. It looked like a white trident, but it was Pyromancer tool. Kurai never saw him use it, yet.

"What?" Clide asked. "Huh? Oh nothing." Kurai replied, smiling. Clide sighed and rolled his eyes. _He's acting weirder than ever_, Clide thought to himself. Then he chuckled.

"Come on!" Clide cried. He started to walk forward, leaving Kurai for a moment. Kurai noticed and ran after him.

Once he caught up to Clide, they were already at the front gates of the Institute.

"So, why do you want to go to the City?" Kurai asked. Clide shrugged. "Thought it'll be the perfect place." he said. "For what?" Kurai asked, even more curious and anxious. "To show what you can do. And so I can show _you_ what _I_ can do." he said. Clide sounded excited to Kurai, but what about?

"But I thought the City was a ghost town, well, that's what Professor Soul told me anyway." Kurai said. "Sure, maybe it is. Not many people survived the wave like we did. But the City is crawling Creatures." he said, chuckling.

Kurai stopped. Clide stopped also, and turned to look back at Kurai. "What is it now?" Clide asked. "I thought that was the Guardians job?" Kurai said. "What?" Clide asked. "To exterminate the Creatures." Clide scoffed and laughed. "You're an idiot." he said. "What?" Kurai was getting tired of being called an "idiot". But he didn't want to point that out to Clide.

"What do you think they're teaching us for?" Clide asked. Kurai thought about it and said, "So we can survive in the Wave?" he asked. "Yes, but also to destroy Creatures if we come across one. What is the Guardians job?" _Where is he getting at?_, Kurai thought. "To exterminate Creatures, to save the human race." Kurai answered. "Correct, again. And they're teaching us how to do it! Now does that make sense?" Clide asked, once again, chuckling. Kurai thought about it once more and nodded. _It's best not to argue with him. You'll get nowhere_, Kurai thought.

"Hey," Clide said. "What?" Kurai asked. "Do you have your pass?" Kurai blinked and felt around. _I know I grabbed it_, Kurai thought. Without it, they can't leave school grounds. He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a white slip of paper. It had Soul's signature on it—along with the Dean's. Kurai shivered. "Got it. What about you? Do you have yours?" Kurai said, almost laughing. He smiled. Clide reached into his left pocket and pulled out a similar slip. "Got it. I just wanted to make sure you didn't lose yours." he said.

The continued to the gates. Two guarding trolls—the same type of trolls that watch the dorms—were there. The trolls growled—a faint growl, in the throat—at the sight of the two boys.

Clide handed the troll on the left his pass. "Please, let us through." he said, with a smirk. The troll ripped the note out of Clide's hand, and read it. He growled and tilted his head. Clide nodded and went through the gate. Kurai did the same thing, and followed Clide through the gate.

"Ready?" Clide asked. Kurai nodded. "You?" he asked. "I've been ready since this morning!" Clide said, laughing.

They continued walking, towards the City. Within thirty minutes, they arrived at the edge of the City. There was a large wooden sign, slightly chipped, that said WELCOME TO in white letters. It read CITY in weird red letters. Kurai hoped it was red spray-paint, and not blood.

Clide sighed. "Let's go in." he said, smirking.

The City did look and feel like a ghost town. There were maybe four to seven buildings still somehow struggling to stay up. The rest was rubble, some burnt and some of it ashes.

They walked, street rubble crunching under their shoes.

Kurai saw something out of his eye. It was a fire, a small one.

_Kurai! Kurai, where are you?! Kurai. . .Kurai we love you._ He remembered his parents last words extremely clearly. A tear fell down out of his bangs.

He felt something shake him. He looked up, not feeling hazy anymore, and saw Clide. Clide had an odd expression on his face. He had a hand on Kurai's shoulder. "Are you okay. . .?" Clide asked. Kurai nodded. "Just remembering something." Clide didn't think anything of Kurai's response. Then he remembered.

He heard rumors of Kurai's past. Of how the Wave destroyed and killed everything Kurai loved. And mysteriously, Kurai survived, waking up in a pile of rubble.

_Better than my background_, Clide thought. He haven't really heard from his family. He was the youngest of his brother and father. He always wanted be a higher ranking than his brother and father; it was always competition between the three. It had been hard getting here, a lot of work. His father had made Clide join the Institute, but Clide didn't really want to. But his father forced him.

Clide shook his head, making the memory go away. He saw that Kurai was still looking at him. _I wonder what his eyes look like?_, Clide thought.

Clide took his hand off of Kurai's shoulder, turned, and continued to walk. Kurai followed.

"So, how are we doing this?" Kurai asked. Clide shrugged. "Not sure. Probably attack the first Creature we see, and go on from there." he said. "So, in other words, you have no idea. . ." Kurai said. "I didn't say that!" Clide said.

They continued walking until they eventually ran into a Creature. It looked like an imp, or a small goblin. Green skin, partially covered in moss and broken bark from trees, and dark glassy eyes. It hissed at them. "You take this one." Clide said. "What?!" Kurai cried. "What are you? Scared? Chicken?" Clide said, laughing and smirking. "Fine." Kurai said, almost hissing the word.

Kurai took out his wand, and concentrated. He felt a burn in his chest, and knew he sensed his fire inside him being lit. He charged the Creature, wand lit with bright, orange flames. He twirled he wand and brought it down on the Creature, splitting it in two. His flames were like a whip now. He did it again, but sideways now. Now the Creature was split into four pieces. The pieces turned into ash and blew away.

_How'd he do that?_, Clide thought to himself. He didn't want to admit it, but he was impressed of Kurai. But he then noticed Kurai was panting, like the fight just worn him out.

"That was too easy for you." Clide said. Kurai whipped his head up to Clide. "What?!" he cried. "You took that thing down in ten seconds." he said. _That's because I'm a higher rank than you_, Kurai thought. "Fine. What do you suggest then?" Kurai said, a bit annoyed.

Clide thought about it, then an imaginary light bulb went off inside his head. "We split up." he said. Kurai stared at him, like he was the most insane person in the world. "What? Are you nuts?" he cried. Kurai was worried, for himself and for Clide. Clide scoffed. "We'll make this a little competition. We go into different part of the City, and try to defeat as many Creatures as we can. Deal? Or are you scared?" Clide said. Kurai straightened up. "Fine. You're on." _Now I got to watch _him, both Kurai and Clide thought.

Clide turned and ran off. "He's like a cat." Kurai said. He turned and ran off in the other direction.

Clide just wanted to get away from Kurai, for a moment. He wanted to find out how Kurai defeated that Creature so easily. "What rank is he?" Kurai asked himself.

Clide heard a high-pitched scream, that made him stop. "Was that Kurai?" Clide asked. He chuckled. He heard the scream again, but it was closer this time. "What is _that_?" he growled. "Better go check it out." Saying that, he pounced and ran off in the direction of the scream.

Once he arrived, Clide saw it was a little girl. She was being attacked by three Creatures. They looked like tree ogres, but Clide wasn't sure.

He concentrated. _I want to be the best,_ he thought. His chest burned with his furious flame, and his staff lit up in flames. He smiled.

He jumped into the action. He swung his staff into the first Creature, turned and brought down his staff on the second one, and swung his staff on the third one. Their ashes blew away in the wind.

He heard crying behind him. _The little girl._ He turned and saw that she was indeed crying. She had her brown hair rustled, her picnic table cloth pattern dress slightly torn, and she had a worn out teddy bear in her left arm. Her eyes were almost red from crying. She looked like she was around five years old, maybe seven.

"Are you okay?" Clide asked. She looked up at him, he towered over her. She nodded, she was a little afraid of him. "I'm not going to hurt you." he said. He crouched down, so he would be at the little girl's level.

"What's your name? I'm Clide." he said. _What was she so afraid of?_, he thought to himself. "Mabel." she said, just faintly. Clide sighed.

"Well, Mabel, I got to take you somewhere safe. Any ideas?" he said. "The h-hospital?" she moaned. "Where is the hospital? Does this City have a hospital?" Clide asked. She nodded. "Can you take me there?"

She looked more nervous. "If any of those monsters show up, I'll take care of them. Don't worry. You'll be safe." Clide said. She nodded. "Thank you." she said. They got up, Mabel holding Clide's hand, and walked to the hospital—by Mabel's directions.

Fortunately, on the way, they didn't encounter any Creatures when they arrived. Clide—followed by Mabel—went inside. _I wonder if there's anybody here?_, he pondering in his head.

Mabel ran off towards the elevator. "Hey! Wait!" Clide cried, running after her. They went into the elevator, rode up to the fifth floor. _I wonder what she wants that's on the fifth floor?_

Once the elevator doors opened, Mabel zoomed out—Clide running after her. She ran into a room on her right. There was a man and a woman in there. _Her parents?_

Mabel ran into the arms of the woman. "Mabel!" she cried. "Mommy!" Mabel cried, tears running down her checks again.

"Where were you? We were worried." she said to Mabel. "Just outside. I was attacked by these monsters! But this man," Mabel looked up at Clide. "saved me."

The father looked up at him. "Thank you." he said. "No problem. Doing what I can."

Clide turned to leave. "Are you a Guardian?" the man asked. Clide stopped in the doorway.

He remembered the conversation he had with Kurai earlier, telling him about the job they are learning to do. Now he saw the point Kurai tried to make.

"No. I'm not." Clide said, faintly. "Then why are you in the City? It's dangerous!" the man said. "I'm just a student Pyromancer." Clide said. The man fell silent.

"So, you're a student?" the mother asked. Clide nodded. "Where from?" "The Institute." Clide didn't say anything more, and stepped out.

He walked out of the hospital, hearing nothing but silence. _That's not good, _he thought. If Kurai was fighting he would've heard it. But he heard nothing.

Kurai dodged an attack from the imp Creature. It spat acid at him, but Kurai dodged it, making a tree melt from the acid spit.

He swung down with his "Fire Whip" down on the Creature, and it turned to ashes. He was panting again. "Why do I get so tired out?" he asked himself.

Kurai heard a growl behind him. He turned around and saw a larger Creature. It looked like a komodo dragon type of Creature. It had dark green skin, with brown stripes. It was bigger than Kurai, and probably stronger. "No way I can beat this." Kurai said, just faintly.

The creature raised his paw—with sharp, razor-like claws—ready to attack. Kurai lifted his wand, and twirled it repeatedly in a circle. A bright, orange circle of fire formed in front of him. It was basically "Fire-Whip", but spinning over and over. But it didn't protect him. When the Creature struck, it sent him flying.

He hit a concrete wall, and fell to the floor. He saw red in his blurry vision, and had a head rush. It almost knocked the air out of him. He struggled to get up.

The Creature struck again, leaving him flying in the air with a giant, bleeding gash on his side. The Creature struck down, getting Kurai's right eye. Kurai cried in pain, awaiting the end.

Clide could smell blood in the air, it was close. He knew whose blood it was.

He jumped up and ran. He had to find Kurai. He ran into an empty lot, and found him. Kurai was on the verge of death.

Clide then saw what put Kurai in this critical condition. He didn't even know what it was. "And Kurai went up against that?!" Clide cried. "Is he crazy?!"

Clide lit up his staff and jumped on Creature. He dug his staff in the Creature's neck, and blasted every flame in his body into the Creature.

He jumped out and looked up at his work. The Creature was thrashing about, flames engulfing and dancing about it. Soon it burst into ashes and they scattered about in the wind.

Clide dropped to his knees, and started to breathe deeply. His stamina was almost wiped out. "H-How did I. . .manage to do that?" he asked aloud, between breathes.

He turned to Kurai, who wasn't moving anymore. "Too. . .bad you. . .weren't awake. . .to see that." he gasped.

He crawled over to Kurai. He was bleeding from under his bangs, and on his side. Kurai was barely breathing. "I need to get you back to the Institute, quick."

Clide stood up, just barely, and picked up Kurai. He slung him on his back, using his staff to support Kurai's weight. He put Kurai's wand, almost forgetting it, in his pocket.

He made it, barely, to the front gates of the Institute. His legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. His vision went black and he passed out.

_Three Days Later. . . ._

Clide opened his eyes, his body shaking. He looked and saw he—along with Kurai, next to him—were in the infirmary. He saw that they were in plain, white robes and in hospital beds. Kurai had a blood bag connected to his arm by a plastic wire. He did lose a lot of blood.

Nurse Sachiru came in, Kytorui—her aspect, following her. Sachiru was in Pyromancer clothes, and her pink hair still loose. Kytorui—well, only his face was shown in a blue scarf and a weird hat that a kitten face and goggles on it. Besides that, he had a black sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Clide always wondering what Kytorui was exactly. All he knows, don't keep your stuff around when you're near him.

"Oh, you're up." Sachiru said, in a calm voice. Clide nodded.

"How's Kurai?" he asked. Sachiru sighed and turned to face him. She had a sad expression on her face. "Well, he lost a lot of blood. We had to patch his side, that'll take three weeks to heal at least. And his eye. . .his eyes. He probably won't be able to see ever again in his right eye. It was cut through." she said. _It was all my fault, _Clide thought to himself.

Kytorui jumped on Clide's lap. "Don't worry about it! The main thing is that he's alive!" he cried. Clide sighed. "Guess so. I just hope he wakes up soon." Clide said, looking at Kurai—who was deeply unconscious.

"What did you guys do?" Sachiru asked. Clide looked up. "Battled Creatures." Clide said. Sachiru gave him a look. "What? Are you mental or something? What were you thinking?!" she cried.

"That's what I want to ask." Clide looked up and saw his professor, Soul. He didn't look happy, for once. "Professor Soul!" Clide cried.

Soul walked over to his bed, and handed him something. It was bottle of a green liquid, that had an yellow glowing orbs in it. An elixir. "Drink it. It'll boost your stamina. It was nearly gone when they dragged you both in here." Soul said. Clide tilted the bottle and the liquid went into his mouth. He almost gagged. It tasted like a twisted sour lemon. He shivered. "Drink more of it. Trust me, you'll feel better." Soul said. Clide nodded and drank some more, or as much as he could before he felt like throwing up. He put the bottle on a small table next to him. He felt better, full of energy. "Okay now?" Soul asked. Clide nodded. "Good."

Clide looked around and noticed something missing. "Professor Soul?" "Yes, Clide?" Soul asked. "Where's our weapons?" They weren't in the room with them. "They're in the classroom. You'll be able to get them once you've fully recovered." Soul said. Clide just nodded.

"It was surprising, though." Clide said. "What was?" Soul asked. "The way Kurai fought. What he could do. It was amazing." Clide said, sighing.

"Well, it should be obvious then." Soul said. Clide looked up at him. "What should be obvious?" Clide asked, confused. "Kurai is a higher rank than you are, Clide." Clide just stared at him. _That small fry?! Stronger than me?!_ "But how?!" Clide cried. "He does more work. Since he has more free time than you." Clide couldn't believe it. "Actually, Kurai is highest ranked in our class. It's funny, he's the shortest and he's the highest rank." Soul said, chuckling.

Soul saw the fury in Clide's eyes. _I struck a nerve_, Soul thought. He glanced at Kurai, and then left without a word. Clide was still furious that Kurai was higher ranked than him.

Kurai moaned awake. He turned and saw Clide glaring at him with furious eyes. _Wonder what's he mad about?_, Kurai thought to himself.

A few days later, Kurai and Clide were back in their rooms.

Clide walked to the Sonic Room door, and knocked. "Come in." Clide opened the door and walked in, he saw Kurai sitting at the table—drawing something.

"What?" Kurai asked. Clide sighed.

"What rank level are you?" Clide asked. Kurai stopped doing what he was doing for a moment. "Why?" he asked. "Just wondering." "Ninety. Third rank." Kurai said. "How?!" Clide cried. "I do a lot of work." "Why?" he asked. "I owe a lot to Soul, let's just say that." Kurai said.

"Why?" Clide asked. "Why what?" "You owe a lot to Soul?" "If not for him, I wouldn't be here." Kurai said. "I don't understand."

Kurai turned to face him, a part of his bangs split revealing his right eye. Clide just stared. "What is it now?" Kurai asked. "Y-your eye. . .it's healed."

Clide couldn't but stare at Kurai's eyes. They were green, different shades of green to be exact. It looked like his eyes were glowing, but why?

"Oh yeah, that. You're probably wondering, why, right?" Kurai said. Clide nodded. "It's a trick I found out I could do when I was young, around five years old. I could heal myself with fire. I could even heal broken bones. It sure saved us on medical finances!" Kurai said, chuckling.

"Then what about your side? Is there a gash on it anymore?" Clide asked. Kurai shook his head. "All healed." "That's amazing!"

"But, back to the Soul thing." "What about it?" Kurai asked. "Tell me why you owe a lot to him, the _whole_ story." "Maybe another time. It's quite long." Kurai said. "No. Right now." Clide said. Kurai sighed. "Fine, you should sit down." Kurai said.

"It began a few months ago, when the Institute first started out and was accepting applications." Kurai said.

_Part 2 – Kurai's True Beginning _

Kurai woke up in a pile of broken rubble. He could still feel the heat and pressure of the Wave. When the Wave hit, he lost everything he loved. His family. He remembered hearing, "Kurai, we love you" before the Wave actually happened. Those were his parents last words to him.

He got up, noticing his clothes. His gray sweatshirt, black skinny jeans, and his black converse shoes. His blonde hair was still long. And he noticed his was alone. Completely.

"Hello?! Anyone?!" he screamed. No answer. "Mother! Father!" Still, no response. He sighed and almost cried.

He started to walk around in the ruined city, rubble crunching under his feet. He saw nothing, literally nothing.

Kurai heard noises behind him. He turned around saw three weird creatures, but they all looked the same. They looked like little, green fuzzy goblins. "W-what?" Kurai asked.

He extended his hand, expecting his flame to burst out and save him. But nothing happened. The monsters took this as an advantage. They started to charge at him.

Kurai screamed and ran. He had to get away from these things, whatever they were.

Then he saw a man in a white cloak in front of him. "Help!" Kurai cried. The man turned, revealing a soft face with bright, blue eyes and long, soft brown hair.

The man raised a gray staff, pointed at Kurai. It started to glow orange and yellow, than flames began to dance around it. Kurai ducked before he got struck by the flames. Instead, the creatures were burnt to ashes.

Kurai looked up at the man, glaring at him. "Are you nuts?! You almost fried me!" he cried. "But you ducked." the man said.

"You're like me." Kurai said. The man raised an eyebrow. "How so?" "You can control fie. I can too, but barely." Kurai said.

"Show me." the man said. "Show you what?" Kurai asked. "_Your_ fire abilities." he said. "Well, you see about that. . .it happens at random times. I can't control it exactly." Kurai said, rubbing the back of his head. He wanted to show the man his abilities, but he didn't know how.

"Tell me, what's your name?" he asked. Kurai sighed. "Kurai Fenikkusu Hanran." Kurai replied. "I'm Soul." he said.

"Now tell me, Kurai, how did you survive in the Wave?" Soul asked. "I-I'm not sure. I just woken up from, the. . .what was it?" "The Wave." "The Wave. I just woke up in a pile of rubble! And my parents. . ." Kurai fell silent. _They're dead,_ he thought.

Kurai felt a burning in his chest, and he saw his hands on fire. _Are my feelings tied to my power somehow?_ He didn't understand it. He could control his powers perfectly before, but what happened.

"I see. Your emotions. They fuel your flame quite nicely. But could you control your flames better before?" Soul said. "Yeah. Perfectly." Kurai said, nodding.

"I think I get it." Soul said. "What?" "The Wave effected you." Soul said. "How?" Soul shrugged. "I was wondering that myself, Kurai."

_The boy has much potential, but it locked itself up inside him. He needs to unlock it once more._

"Kurai," Soul said. "What?" "Come with me. I know a place that could help you. I was on the way there, but I got lost."

"Soul, where are we exactly?" Kurai said. "Well, it's called the City." "City?" Soul nodded.

"And what were those _things_ that were chasing me?" Kurai asked. "Well, I think they're called "Creatures." Soul said. "Creatures. That would make sense."

"Any more questions?" Soul asked, chuckling. Kurai shook his head. "Then we should get going. We don't want any more Creatures attacking us."

"Where are we going?" Kurai asked. Soul sighed. "The Institute." "Institute?" "Kurai too many questions to a few answers. But the Institute is where magical people go to learn to survive in these times of the Waves. I'm applying there as a professor. A Pyromancer professor. You can apply there as a student, I guess. You'd be in my class." Kurai said.

They continued to walk, down south.

"So," Kurai said. _Here's another round of questions_, Soul thought. "Yes, Kurai?" "What happened to you before the Wave?"

"Oh, I was a professor at another school. But, due to certain events, I cannot teach there anymore." he said. "What was the school called?" Kurai said. "Soul Academy. I taught students in my own district. I had a friend there, but he was in part of the Night district." "What was his name?" Kurai asked. "Oh, he was a vampire, named Fang." Kurai stared at Soul. "But vampires don't exist." he said. "But we yield fire." "True." "I bet the school's not standing anymore, due to the wave."

They walked further, until they reached an iron metal gate. Inside a gate was a huge building. It was white and cream colored.

Two trolls—_Trolls!_, Kurai thought—were in the front. "Soul, applying for Pyromancer professor." Soul said. The two trolls nodded and then looked at me. I gulped. "He's Kurai Fenikkusu Hanran. He's going to try and apply for a Pyromancer student." Soul quickly said. They allowed them in.

Once Kurai was inside, he felt dizzy and fell to the ground. "Are you okay, Kurai?" Soul asked. Kurai nodded. "Just feeling a little bit dizzy."

"Let me guess, you never been in a magical atmosphere?" Soul asked. Kurai looked up to him. "A magical at-what?" Soul sighed. "You'll get used to it. Trust me, I've seen many cases." Soul grabbed Kurai's hand and pulled him up.

They entered the Institute. It was white marble all around, and with many doors.

"Why don't you go walk around?" Soul said. "Sure." Kurai looked and saw what appeared to be a woman, but she was in shadows, so he couldn't really see her. She had a white mist swirling around her though. Kurai felt chills going down his spine at each glance at her. Soul walked to her and they walked off to a different room.

Kurai began to wonder off. He walked into a giant, white marble room. It had four, black doors. Signs above the doors read SONIC, MONO, STEREO, and ECHO. "I wonder what they are? Sound rooms?" Kurai asked aloud.

"They're the male dorms." Kurai turned and saw a taller boy. He had on a blue, cut short sleeves, shirt, with a darker tint of blue stripe across the chest. Deeper blue pants, with the belt that held purple stars. He noticed he had a long red scarf around his neck. Kurai also noticed that he had red, short, spiky hair.

"Dorms?" Kurai asked. The boy rolled his eyes. "It's where people sleep at universities and other schools." he said. "Oh yeah."

"New here?" he asked Kurai. "Applying." Although it was Soul who was applying for him. "Which element?" "Huh?" Kurai asked. "Which element do you control? You know, earth, fire, wind, or water? Those." "Oh, fire." Kurai said, looking down.

"So, you're a Pyromancer also?" he asked Kurai. "Pyromancer?" He remembered Soul saying Pyromancer, but he didn't know what it meant. "You know, a person who controls fire. Anyone who controls fire knows that!" he cried. "Sure."

"Kurai!" Both boys turned to see Soul. Soul had a smile on his face, and a weird, red uniform in his left hand. He handed it to Kurai. It was a coat, with yellow straps on the shoulders and sleeves. The edges were outlined in yellow. The pants were tan with an orange stripe running down each side. And the boots were red with a brown edge at the top. Kurai looked up at Soul. "What's this?" he asked him. "Your new uniform." "Uniform?"

"Kurai, as of today, you're enrolled in the Institute as a Pyromancer!" Soul said, the smile still on his face. He heard the boy snicker.

"Too bad we don't have a teacher yet." he said. "You're looking at him, Clide Rosenhall." Soul said. Clide froze, shocked that Soul knew his name.

"Yes. The Dean told me about you." Soul said. "Say, shouldn't you be in your uniform?" Clide rolled his eyes and walked to his dorm, which was the Echo Room, and closed the door behind him.

"You should go change into your uniform as well, don't want to get in trouble with the Dean. Trust me." Soul said.

"Oh and Kurai," Soul said quickly. "Yes?" "You've been assigned to the Sonic Room." Kurai nodded and walked in.

It was big room, two separate beds, baby blue walls. There were six lamps—lit when they sense motion—lit in the room, making the room brighter. There four white dressers in the room also. And the floors were white tiled. Kurai sighed and changed out of his old clothes into his uniform.

He walked out to see Soul waiting for him. He saw Soul quickly snicker.

"Well?" Soul asked. "What?" "How do you feel?" "Besides the sudden craving for apples, fine." Soul laughed. So did Kurai.

"And that's how I meet Soul." Kurai said. Clide nodded, sitting on Kurai's bed. "Alright. Then you should have learned a new spell by now." Clide said. "You saw it." "What was it?" Clide asked. "The Fire Whip." "Ah, so that's what that was."

Clide got up and walked out of the Sonic room and into the Echo room.


End file.
